Why Everything Depends on Your Love for the Lord
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
Deuteronomy 6:5 (NKJV)
The Ten Commandments are the most perfect law ever written for mankind: first, because they reflect the holy and righteous nature of God, and second, because they demonstrate God's desire for mankind to advance and prosper. Laws are the foundation and framework for how and why things in creation are as they are and function as they do. They are put in place for the preservation of mankind, and they also act as the bedrock of the justice system of the universe; without laws it would be impossible for God or for men to render righteous judgement.
The Ten Commandments are the divine rules for living on earth, and within them are layers upon layers of precepts, statutes and ordinances. But the sin nature made it impossible for any human being to obey them without the help of God. So the Lord God turned to the greatest secret, hidden until the time it was revealed, by which mankind, even in his sinful nature, could fulfil the entire law: loving the Lord God. I believe God intentionally left this commandment out of the original Ten Commandments to show Israel the impossibility of keeping them without love for God. Israel said they could keep all that the Lord commanded them, but they said it out of pride, not out of trust in the Lord.
Love for God has always been the reason behind the success of the men and women of Scripture, because this love not only helps us become better human beings, but also helps us develop a strong consciousness of the presence of God with us. Every commendable quality comes from loving God. You cannot have strong faith without it, because faith works and is energised by love. You cannot operate in true wisdom without it, because at its core wisdom is a mind that loves God. You cannot succeed in life without it, because love never fails, and everything that is not of love fails. Love adds eternal value to everything we do and to who we are. To love God with all the heart, soul and strength is the greatest human exercise in the divine nature.
God is love, and loving God is the training we undertake to become like God, because it is His desire that mankind become like Him in every respect; that is why He created man in His image and likeness. God therefore measures our likeness and closeness to Him by how much we love Him. This is the great strength of the divine nature, and it is why we are commanded to love God: because we ought to be like Him. Perfection, and the keeping of all the Ten Commandments, is possible through this exercise. A mind that does not love God is incapable of truly and successfully exercising all the other divine virtues available to mankind, and this makes failure an inevitable consequence for those not given to the pursuit of loving God.
Adam failed because he loved his wife more than God. Esau failed, Saul failed, and Solomon, though he began by loving God, also failed, all for want of love for the Lord. It is this quality that distinguishes us in the kingdom and determines who is kept and who is not. Jude admonished the Church to keep themselves in the love of God, and how essential this is. Loving God creates channels through which He releases all the resources of heaven at the disposal of such an individual. The possibilities for the man who loves God are endless. Do you know that love is greater than faith? Faith has limitations; love does not. This love for God can help you achieve far more than faith ever will.
Satan designed this world and its lusts to erode mankind's love for God, and it is a strategy in which he has succeeded for ages. There are three main reasons why Satan designed the world the way he did: first, to distract you from true reality; second, to steal the Word of God from your heart; and third, to stop you from loving God with all your heart, strength, soul and imagination. In this he has succeeded, for there are more worldly believers than spiritual ones, never mind sinners, who already belong to his control. On the other hand, this means that the Word of God and love for God are solid defences against Satan and his schemes.
Lastly, to love God is a sacrificial love, an abandonment of self in the pursuit of pleasing, fearing, obeying and submitting to Him. It is the pursuit of passionate fealty to God and to Him alone, a total loyalty to God and His ways. There is more to say, but I believe the reader gets the idea. You achieve it by developing a deep respect for the Word and the voice of God, and by committing to see it through, not out of obligation to what you are instructed, but out of love for the One who asks it of you. This will also help you become a better lover of mankind, yourself included. Pursue it; it will transform your life.